On my way home....

I am on my way home after a very interesting week here in Moscow and working with the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. I have facilitated a workshop assisting an Australian expert on Bus Operations in a Russian environment, with attendance from both an Austrian and a Swede. I am impressed with the compact Games concept, with the level of knowledge and the hard working Russians and how they have accepted a learning environment different from what they are used to.
So in the end, although we all see the world through " the coloured glasses of our own culture", we are none the less humans that enjoy to learn the same way - doing it the Sim Optima way!

A day in the life of.....

What is it like being at a workshop? Get up at 0600, morning yoga, breakfast, emails, last preps. Briefing with the Advisor for breakfast. Walk to Sochi office (boy, we are so lucky to be so close; commuting for 2 hrs is normal i Moscow!), organize the room, adjust the agenda (always changes), drink a coffee, work until 1300, lunch, work until 1800. Other meetings. Debrief with Advisor, dinner, emails, bed......I could be anywhere in the world? No, this is definately Russia. So when I come home I hope people will not ask questions like: What did you see? How was Kreml? How is Moscow? But rather questions like: How is the working culture? What are Russians like? Which are the challenges they face in the Olympic project? Which are the do's and don't's of Russian culture?
I love to meet the people! That is what I treasure and they are my source for knowledge. That is why I am here!
Oooopps, I better run........

Next winter Olympics Sochi 2014!!

I am spending this whole week in Moscow assisting the organizer of the Olympic Winter Games and Paralympic Games in Sochi 2014 in a workshop on Bus Operations. With a knowledgable advisor, an interested transport team, a nice atmosphere and good coffee, knowledge sharing is a fun sport. A complex project like this has many challenges and transport is among the biggest. So how do you succeed? Well, what I have learned today is that you start with the clients' needs and work on your service level agreements. Then you have to develop and agree on the route network, the bus timetables, the bus schedules, the driver roster, the depot staffing and rostering, design and operations. So now you just need to know where to get all the buses you need, how to recruit the staff, how to train them, where to accomodate them and feed them.....Easy? No, not really. I am glad there is knowledge to provide .....and may be we can create some too?